2021 Annual Grants bring Ciresi Walburn Foundation’s total giving past $30 million since inception.
Organizations and schools in the Twin Cities region and Greater Minnesota receive grants in support of their work pursuing equitable opportunities for all children.
The Ciresi Walburn Foundation today announced $1,515,000 in grants to 5 schools and 18 nonprofit organizations as part of the Foundation’s 2021 Annual Grant Cycle. Since the Foundation was founded in 1998, it has now made grants totaling more than $30 million.
“We’re incredibly proud of the role our Foundation has played in improving the lives of Minnesota children and communities,” said Mike Ciresi, chair of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. “Reaching the milestone of $30 million in grants to partner organizations is a reason to both celebrate the progress we’ve made, while also acknowledging there is more work to do in order to ensure all our children have access to a quality education.”
During 2021, in addition to grants made through the Foundation’s Annual Grant Cycle, a $495,000 grant was made to the Minnesota Private College Fund to support Cohort 4 of the Ciresi Walburn Scholars, $144,500 was invested in three high-quality tutoring programs, and a grant of $40,000 was made to the Minnesota Council of Churches to support of the resettlement of Afghan Refugees to Minnesota.
The Foundation aims to achieve its mission with a focus on five key priorities which the Foundation’s board recently updated to better reflect the needs and opportunities of Minnesota’s communities:
Eliminate the misconception that Minnesota schools provide a quality education for all OUR children.
Expand the number and capacity of high-performing schools and educational organizations throughout Minnesota serving students of color and low-income students.
Support parent and family engagement in schools and their demands for access to high-performing schools for all students.
Invest in strategies to diversify Minnesota’s educator workforce and equip teachers with the cultural intelligence and skills needed to support and educate all students.
Expand access to high-quality early childhood learning opportunities and scalable, high-quality tutoring programs.
“Reaching the milestone of $30 million in grants to partner organizations is a reason to both celebrate the progress we’ve made, while also acknowledging there is more work to do in order to ensure all our children have access to a quality education.”
Great MN Schools and Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, which were selected to receive grants as part of the Foundation’s 2021 Annual Grant Cycle, align closely with these priorities.
Great MN Schools (GMS) works to ensure that every child is able to attend a high-performing school that prepares them to thrive in their lives, careers, and communities. High-performing schools that enroll kids from low-income backgrounds make a difference—their students grow academically at twice the rate, achieve four times the proficiency, are twice as likely to graduate, and are six times as likely to earn a postsecondary degree. The Foundation’s $50,000 grant to GMS supports their work of developing and sustaining high-performing schools in Minneapolis through partnering with promising schools, providing them with the strategic and holistic supports needed to strengthen students' learning experiences, and advancing educational outcomes.
Great MN Schools (GMS) supports Twin Cities schools in developing and executing strategic improvement plans to improve academic achievement and meet the needs of students and families.
“While we have a few examples of schools that successfully serve students of color and those from low-income backgrounds, we need many more of them,” said GMS CEO Jen Stern. “Support from the Ciresi Walburn Foundation will allow us to continue to support our portfolio schools as they implement their improvement plans through direct and strategic intervention support.”
Stern continued: “We know that, despite our best efforts, the opportunity gap has grown considerably during the pandemic. This reality places urgency on our team's continued efforts to provide the school leaders we work with access to experts in the field, evidence-based programs, and a community of practice so they can go from good to great.”
Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) is a regional development and philanthropic organization that fosters economic and community vitality in 20 counties of southern Minnesota. The Ciresi Walburn Foundation made a grant of $75,000 to SMIF to support high-quality early childhood education, technical assistance, and resources for childcare providers and educators who work with underserved families: those isolated by poverty, transportation, language, and literacy barriers.
“With all our work,” said Tim Penny, President and CEO of SMIF, “we need to focus on effective strategies to address the barriers childcare providers face to ensure they receive high quality training and the necessary resources to equip them with the skills they need to support and educate the children in their care.”
Early childhood education providers from southern Minnesota receive training, technical assistance, and resources from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF)
Full list of 2021 Annual Grant Cycle grant recipients:
Ascension Catholic Academy — $100,000
Breakthrough Twin Cities — $50,000
Close Gaps by 5 — $50,000
Cristo Rey Jesuit High School — $75,000
EdAllies — $100,000
Educators for Excellence (E4E-MN) — $40,000
Elevating Education MN — $50,000
Friendship Academy of the Arts — $75,000
Great MN Schools — $50,000
Hennepin Schools — $50,000
Jewish Family and Children’s Service (JFCS) of Minneapolis — $75,000
Little Free Library’s Read in Color Program— $10,000
Minnesota Parent Union — $75,000
Montessori American Indian Childcare Center — $40,000
Montessori Center of Minnesota — $50,000
Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) — $45,000
Prodeo Academy — $75,000
Reading Partners Twin Cities — $45,000
Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) — $75,000
Summit Academy OIC — $125,000
Thrive Ed — $50,000
Way to Grow — $125,000
YWCA Duluth — $30,000